Mark of Time

We measure time by events that happen as a group. We graduate college together, then we get invitation to weddings, to baby showers and, eventually, to those baby's graduations and weddings. Those are the happy (or bittersweet) ways we mark off time. There are other, sadder, ways.

The time now is that of grandparents dying. I have several friends who grandparents have died recently, and Scott's grandfather and grandmother are not doing well, either. A few weeks ago, I found out my grandmother had a bad fall and broke several bones, sending her to the hospital.

She's not in rehab and, I think, doing better. But, as we know with old people, once a major fall like this happens, it doesn't take much to topple to apple cart again. I have a sinking feeling that this could be the beginning of the end.

It's sad because she's my last grandparent. Both my grandfather died when I was two, and my other grandmother died when I was in college. But she was much older - 99 years old - so it was somewhat expected. And I wasn't as close with her as I am with this grandmother.

I guess that's how time marches on, and how it leaves its wake. Amidst the weddings and births also comes the deaths. It's strange to be at that point in our own lives where we see that exodus among ourselves and our friends.

I'm sure I'll be taking a trip to New York in the coming month to go see her and check up on Nanny. I'll keep you posted on her progress.

The Way I See It #290

This little quote was greeting me on the cup of my Starbucks latte (tall, vanilla, skim milk) this morning:

"On the battlefield of ideas, winning requires moving toward the sound of the guns."

-Newt Gingrich

I like that.

Operation Cookie Drop

It's that time of year again. Just when the slow winter depression starts to set in and the realization that the best of the holidays are over and the cold weather has just begun, a cheery girl in a green vest comes knocking on your door with the promise of hope.

A girl scout and her girl scout cookies.

The Girl Scouts have come up with an ingenious plan. For a mere $3.50 a box (when I was a girl scout, I believe they retailed for $1.75 a box), you get the joy of a limited edition cookie. Now's the time to stock your freezer with boxes of Thin Mints and Samoas (at least, that's what they were called when I was a girl scout), to be later enjoyed the other 11 months of the year.

This year, a little girl scout came knocking on my door, and I bought two boxes of Thin Mints, a box of Samoas and a box of Peanut Butter something-or-others. And one box for the troops.

Operation Cookie Drop is apparently the girl scout's way of spreading cheer and good will to our soliders overseas. Each person can buy a box of cookies for the troops. So I put myself down for a box - I figure it's the least I can do. I'm sure they would appreciate a box of girl scout cookies. I didn't get to specify a particular cookie, though, and I just hope that the troops don't find themselves with 10,000 boxes of Shortbread Cookies. Because, let's be honest, not all girl scout cookies are quite as wonderfully delicious as others.

I imagine boxes of Thin Mints being dropped from airplanes like manna from heaven, each with it's own tiny parachute to bring it safely and gently down upon Iraq and Afghanistan. Troops looking up to the skies cheering and dancing around as the minty goodness rains around them. Newspaper headings proclaiming "Girl Scouts boost Troops' Morale!" and "Osama gets a beating thanks to the Girl Scouts!"

I wonder if the troops, like me, are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the middle of February, when my four boxes of cookies will be delivered to my door, in exchange for $17.50. I wonder if brave girl scouts and their leaders will be traveling to the Middle East to set up cookie tables, selling the extra boxes of cookies to the troops who were not as fortunate to grab a parachuting box of Thin Mints. I wonder if they, like me, are debating if they should have ordered that extra box of Thin Mints and Samoas, just to fortify them through the dreary winter months.

After all, it's not every day that you can enoy a Girl Scout cookie.

Bumper Sticker Time!

On my drive home today, I saw this bumper sticker:

Don't Steal.
The government hates competition.

What? Now I'm not claiming to be a flaming liberal, but seriously?

Jigga what?

Raleigh is currently under voluntary water restrictions. Apparently, we only have 60 days of water left. After that 60th day, I'm not really sure what we're going to do, but Scott and I have been very conscious about the amount of water that we use. I've even gone so far as to save any excess water we have (the water that runs when you're waiting for the hot water to start) and using it to fill our toilets, so we don't use water when we flush! Extreme, I know. But it's actually kind of fun!

I went to Panera today to grab lunch and was greeted by this sign on their door. (My real-time thoughts are in italics).

Dear Valued Panera Guests, (that's me!)

As part of our ongoing water conservation (Awesome! Even Panera is conserving water. Love it), we have switched to disposable tableware. We apologize for the inconvenience. (Jigga what??)

So now they are substituting one evil with another? It's a tough call, I know. Save the water or save the landfills? How about we just come up with a more efficient way to clean dishes with less water?

I guess the only thing to do now is what our parents always told us: bring your lunch.

A slow and painful death?

"Reading is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude." -Proust

I have always loved to read. I was the kid who would read the cereal box and the milk jug as I ate breakfast in the morning. And I am the geek who can spend hours, unknowingly, in a bookstore or library. For me, it's more than just the story. It's the sentence structure and form that I love, that inspire me.

In last week's issue of The New Yorker, an article horrified me (Twilight of Books by Caleb Crain). In the article, Crain give supporting evidence that reading is on the decline, not just in the US but across the world. Among the statistics is the main finding: "Between 1982 and 2002, the percentage of Americans who read literature declined not only in every age group but in every generation - even in those moving from youth into middle age. We are reading less as we age, and we are reading less than people who were our age ten or twenty years ago".

Many sociologists believe that reading books for pleasure will one day be some arcane hobby. So what's the big deal?

There have been numerous studies showing that that readers and viewers (those who primarily watch TV in this case) actually think and view their world differently. Readers remember more, are able to note inconsistencies, are better at critically thinking. Viewers of TV programming are less likely to remember facts and, because TV is more visceral and emotional, are more likely to tune out shows that present a conflicting viewpoint (which affects critical thinking ability). Apparently the Internet falls in-line with reading, but there is fear that if more of the internet turns to the YouTube model, it will soon evolve more towards television. Crain writes:

"It can be amusing to read a magazine whose principles you despise, but it is almost unbearable to watch such a TV show. And so, in a culture of secondary orality, we may be less likely to spend time with ideas we disagree with. Self-doubt, therefore, becomes less likely. It is easy to notice inconsistencies in two written accounts placed side by side. A comparison of two video reports, on the other hand, is cumbersome. Forced to choose between conflicting stories on TV, the viewer falls back on hunches, or on what he believed before he started watching. He thinks in terms of situations and story lines rather than abstractions."

Crain also points out that the decline of reading could change the fabric our country. Readers are more likely to play sports, visit art museums, attend theatre, take photographs, volunteer and vote. "Perhaps readers venture so readily outside because what they experience in solitude gives them confidence. Perhaps reading is the prototype of independence. No matter how much one worships an author, Proust wrote, 'all he can do is give us desires.' Reading somehow gives us the boldness to act on them. Such a habit might be quite dangerous for a democracy to lose."

I agree. And I understand that there is probably a strong correlation between higher socio-economic status and readers, which give us the time - and money - to visit those museums and volunteer. But I wonder if there is also a strong correlation between reading and being successful, no matter what your socio-economic background. I think reading makes you think outside of yourself, gives you the tools to write better, and allows your mind to work in a different way than just watching TV. It would be a terrible thing for our culture to lose that.

So the question is now, what do we do about it?

Holidays on Ice

Happy New Year!

The holidays have flown by. And even though it's not officially the end of the holiday season (that doesn't happen until January 6th), it's strange how the New Year caps off the celebrations. With no more holiday parties planned (I think it's only Americans who don't make the big fuss about the Epiphany) and all the presents opened, we now hunker down for the long, drab winter ahead and pray for Spring. Of course, North Carolina hasn't seen temperatures below 45 degrees yet, so winter hasn't officially started for us.

It's strange, isn't it? That the best part of the winter season is behind us and New Years has kicked off the start of No Man's Land. There's really nothing to look forward to, save a Valentine's Day here and a President's Day there.

We hosted the whole fam for the holidays this year. And it was fun (it's strange how time, even just a week, can erase the pain and discomfort of being around family 24/7. Maybe that's why women keep having babies). To my mom's credit, I think it was strange that this was the first year that her daughter hosted the holidays. And that's hard for someone who likes to be in control. She kept "suggesting" ways to cook, how to clean my house, and when to rake my yard. And when I ignored her, she "suggested" these things to Scott, hoping that there would be a trickle-down effect. Let's just say there was a lot of drinking going on.

I think everyone had a good time, though. And no matter how painful or uncomfortable being around the family can be, there is comfort in having them around - comfort in the chaos and frustration. I think, for awhile at least, we'll be leaving the holiday hosting to our families, though. We never realized how much work - and food - it entails!

Here's hoping that everyone had just as comfortable of a holiday season and is looking forward to 2008!